CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Based on preliminary data, the statewide
average temperature for spring in Illinois was 55.3 degrees, 3.3 degrees above
normal and the fourth warmest spring on record. Warmer than normal conditions
prevailed in all three spring months of March (2.5 degrees above), April (6.2
degrees above), and May (1.3 degrees above), according to State Climatologist
Jim Angel of the Illinois State Water Survey (http://www.isws.illinois.edu).

The statewide rainfall
for spring in Illinois was 12.0 inches, just 0.7 inches above normal. This was
much less than the 15.8 inches that fell in the spring of 2009 and the 14.2
inches that fell in the spring of 2008.

Based on preliminary
data in Illinois, the statewide average temperature for May was 64.1 degrees,
1.3 degrees above normal. The statewide average precipitation for May was 5.7
inches, 1.4 inches above normal. The heaviest rain amounts for the month were
in western Illinois between Quincy and the Quad Cities. Dallas City, along the
Mississippi River, reported 9.07 inches for the month.

The latest National
Weather Service outlook for this summer (June–August) calls for an increased
chance of below normal temperatures across Illinois. Illinois has an equal
chance of above, below, and near normal precipitation.

"So far this month
has been both warmer and wetter than normal as of June 10. Temperatures are 3
degrees above normal and the statewide average rainfall is 2.3 inches," concludes
Angel.

The Illinois State Water
Survey at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a division of the
Institute of Natural Resource Sustainability, is the primary agency in Illinois
concerned with water and atmospheric resources.